Post by Slade on Oct 29, 2022 20:25:19 GMT -5
A WWE Premium Live Event
Live from Toyota Center in
Houston, TX
On Sunday, October 23, 2022
WWE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Triple H {c} vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
WWE WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Bianca Belair {c} vs. Rhea Ripley
WWE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
FTR {c} vs. #DIY
WWE UNITED STATES CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
“Ravishing” Rick Rude {c} vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage
WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
Adam Cole {c} vs. CM Punk
WWE WOMEN’S TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT FINALS
Lita & Bayley vs. Toni Storm & Io Shirai
WINNER EARNS A SHOT AT THE WWE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Roman Reigns vs. The Undertaker
WINNER EARNS A SHOT AT THE WWE WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Trish Stratus vs. Shayna Baszler
WINNER EARNS A SHOT AT THE UWA UNIVERSAL MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP
Ricky Steamboat vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper
WINNER EARNS A SHOT AT THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
AJ Styles vs. Shawn Michaels
Plus on the NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS kickoff show:
SAMOAN STRAP MATCH
Keith Lee vs. Umaga
GRUDGE MATCH
"The Bastard" PAC vs. "The Redeemer" Miro
Featuring “The Voice of Wrestling” Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, and Wade Barrett on commentary,
the legendary ring announcing of Howard Finkel, and the best backstage reporter in the business, “Mean Gene” Okerlund.
RECAP OF WWE NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS
In the first of two matches on the NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS kickoff show, “The Redeemer” Miro defeated “The Bastard” PAC in 8:45 by submission to Game Over. PAC nearly got Miro in the Brutalizer, but The Redeemer’s incredible power allowed him to evade the maneuver, hit a Miro Kick, and lock PAC in his finisher for the win.
In the second kickoff show match, Keith Lee defeated Umaga in 13:42. These two heavy hitters threw their weight around, shaking the ring with the intensity of each power maneuver they executed. This being a Samoan strap match, they also gave each other massive welts by lacerating each other with the strap. In the end, Lee lifted his 350 lbs. opponent onto his shoulders and executed the Big Bang Catastrophe, then dragged him around the ring as he touched all four corners of the ring to win the Samoan Strap match.
In the first match of the NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS premium live event telecast, Adam Cole successfully defended his WWE Intercontinental Championship in a victory over CM Punk in 14:27. After getting screwed out of a win against Cole’s fellow Heenan Family member “Ravishing” Rick Rude at WWE Extreme Rules, CM Punk got a rematch with Rude with a shot at the WWE United States Championship on the line. Adam Cole interfered on Rude’s behalf to help him go 2-0 against the Best in the World. That’s when CM Punk decided to go after Cole’s Intercontinental Championship. When Cole executed the Panama Sunrise, he rolled Punk towards the ropes and pinned with a lateral press. Heenan pulled out one of his classic heel tactics by holding Punk’s feet down while ducking out of sight of the referee as he counted 1…2. The referee looked up when he saw Punk’s legs twitching but not lifting up off the canvas. He saw Heenan’s hands and stopped the count. The referee barred Heenan from the ring. Cole got into an argument with the referee, allowing Punk to recuperate. Punk turned Cole around and dropped him with a snap DDT, then he put him in the Anaconda Vise. Cole wiggled just close enough to the ropes to get the heel of his right boot on the bottom rope. Punk whipped Cole into the corner and gave him a running high-knee strike, then took him out of the corner with a bulldog. He went for the pin, but Cole kicked out. Punk lifted Cole up into the set up position for the Go to Sleep, but Cole threw back elbows at his face to stop the move from being executed. When he got down, he executed a ushigoroshi and made the cover. 1…2… kick out. Cole picked up Punk and went for an Irish whip, but Punk countered, sending Cole into the corner. He followed in with another running high-knee strike. He lifted Cole onto the top turnbuckle and attempted to get him into double underhooks for a Pepsi Plunge, but Cole fought his way out and knocked Punk off the top rope. Cole got up and dove off the top rope, right into a codebreaker. Cole bounced up, fell near the ropes, and rolled to the floor. When Cole got up, Punk went for a slingshot somersault senton, but Cole moved, hit him with a superkick and then shoved him into the ring steps, where he nailed him with a running knee to the face. Cole rolled Punk into the ring and went to the top rope. He nailed another Panama Sunrise, but instead of going for the pin, lowered his knee pad and hit Punk with another Boom! to the back of the head. He made the pin. 1…2…3!
Trish Stratus defeated Shayna Baszler in 9:15 to become the new #1 contender to the WWE Women’s Championship. Baszler worked on Stratus’ arm, paying particularly close attention to her left shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints. Stratus endured the pain to mount a comeback that started when she blocked the set up to attack from the turnbuckle by taking Baszler off the top rope with a Stratusphere. Later, Stratus slipped free from an attempt by Baszler to put her in a rear naked choke to execute Stratusfaction instead. She followed that with a Chick Kick and made the pin for the win.
#DIY defeated FTR in 17:22 to become the new WWE Tag Team Champions. There was a lot of drama in the last 5 minutes of this contest with Tommaso Ciampa executing the Fairy Tale Ending on Dax Harwood and pinning him only to have Cash Wheeler break up the fall at the very last moment. Later, Wheeler and Harwood executed the Big Rig on Ciampa and pinned him, but Johnny Gargano broke it up. Superkicks knocked Harwood through the ropes and out of the ring, and a poisonrana put Wheeler out on dream stream, enabling Ciampa to crawl over for the hot tag. Gargano came in and traded punches with Wheeler before ducking a clothesline attempt and taking him down with a til-a-whirl headscissors transitioned into the Garga-No-Escape. He held him for a long time as Bobby “The Brain” Heenan distracted the referee. Meanwhile, Harwood pulled Ciampa off the ring apron and gave him a DDT on the floor. He entered the ring with a steel chair with which he intended to hit Gargano, but Sting dropped from the ceiling to interject. He executed a Scorpion Death Drop on Harwood, then chased Heenan off. The referee turned around at the right time to see Wheeler tapping out, thus crowning new WWE Tag Team Champions.
Shawn Michaels defeated AJ Styles in 18:20 to earn a shot at the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Styles nailed Michaels with a Phenomenal Forearm and made the pin, but Michaels kicked out, so he went back to the ring apron and tried for a springboard 450-degree splash. Michaels rolled to the inside to avoid it. Styles to a somersault roll through the splash attempt, Michaels went for Sweet Chin Music, but Styles sidestepped it. He got Michaels with a Phenomenal Blitz. He went for the pin, but Michaels kicked out. Styles whipped Michaels into the corner, then lifted him onto the top turnbuckle. Styles went up and attempted a frankensteiner, but Michaels landed on his feet. Michaels hit Styles with Sweet Chin Music. He made the cover. 1…2… kick out! Michaels couldn’t believe it. He sat down on Styles and pounded away at him with his fists. He picked up Styles and gave him a fisherman’s suplex. He made the cover, but Styles kicked out. Michaels went for the whip, but Styles reversed, and Michaels took him down with a flying forearm. HBK kipped up and prepared for another superkick. He went for it, but Styles blocked it, spun Michaels around and gave him a Pelé kick. Then, he executed the Styles Clash. He flipped him over for the pin. 1…2… kick out! Styles couldn’t believe it. He decided to try for a submission via the calf crusher, but Michaels refused to quit and eventually got to the ropes. Next, Styles gave him the ushigorishi and pinned him, but Michaels kicked out. Styles went for another springboard 450-degree splash, but this time, Michaels put his knees up to block. As Styles writhed in pain, Michaels did a kip up and then tuned up the band. Styles got up, Michaels struck with another Sweet Chin Music, and the match was over. Michaels covered Styles for the 1-2-3!
Ricky Steamboat defeated Rowdy Roddy Piper in 16:11 to earn a shot at the UWA Men’s Universal Championship in November. Piper did every dirty underhanded thing in the book to try to steal this one away from Steamboat, but the heart of the “Dragon” kept beating. When Pipe slapped a sleeperhold on Steamboat, his hand didn’t do go the third time. He fought back to a vertical base and broke the hold with a side belly-to-back suplex. Once back on their feet, Piper tried striking Steamboat, who took him over with some arm drags, then dropped him with a dropkick. Piper retreated to the floor, where Steamboat nailed him with a plancha. Steamboat rolled Piper into the ring, then went to the top rope. He went for the diving crossbody but Piper countered with a dropkick. Piper went for the cover, but Steamboat kicked out. Piper went to the corner and start to untie a turnbuckle, which led to a stern warning from the referee, who snatched the turnbuckle from his hands and proceeded to tie it back on. While that happened, Piper untied one in another corner. He took Steamboat near the corner and went for a catapult. Steamboat landed with his hands on the top rope and feet on the middle, then hopped to the top rope and executed a reverse diving crossbody, sticking the landing with a lateral press. Piper attempted to kick out, but Steamboat kept him pinned to the mat for the 1-2-3!
Lita and Bayley defeated Toni Storm and Io Shirai in 10:04 to become the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. After their long bitter feud ended just a few months ago, Lita and Bayley set aside their differences to join forces in pursuit of WWE tag team gold. Their unlikely partnership paid off when they reached the finals of the championship tournament. Late in the match, Lita nailed Storm with a Litasault at the same time that Shirai nailed Bayley with a moonsault. Neither woman was legal, so the referee didn’t count it. They got up and brawled. Shirai blocked a Twist of Fate attempt by pushing Lita away. She then dropkicked her in the back, sending her into the ropes. Shirai went for a tiger feint kick, but Bayley pulled her out of the way, and as Shirai spun back through the ropes, Bayley gave her an arm-trap headlock driver. Lita cut off Storm’s attack with a Litacanrana. Bayley then gave Storm a Bayley-to-Belly suplex and made the cover for the 3-count.
“Macho Man” Randy Savage defeated “Ravishing” Rick Rude in 14:43 to become the new WWE United States Champion. Rude had only held the title for a few weeks, having it thrown at his feet by former champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in exchange for a shot at the WWE World Champion Triple H. Some wrestlers, including the Macho Man, felt it wasn’t right that Vince McMahon allowed Rude to take the title without having to win it. Savage declared he wanted the first shot at the title. Rude declared he’d only allow it to happen if Savage let him have a night alone with Miss Elizabeth. You can only imagine how well that offer went over. In the end, however, Savage received his title shot, but a loss here would lead to Rude keeping the title and getting Elizabeth to become his new valet. Rude came to the ring in tights with Elizabeth’s face airbrushed on his crotch. The head games worked early on, but Savage mounted a spirited comeback. They brawled around the ring, where thanks to a distraction by Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Rude was able to execute a snap vertical suplex on the floor. Rude went back to the ring to try for the countout victory, but Savage got back in the ring in time. Rude executed a piledriver and went for the pin but Savage kicked out. Rude brought him up to try for the Rude Awakening, but Savage turned through it and countered with a swinging neckbreaker. Savage took momentum, executing pointed elbow smashes, an atomic drop, bodyslam, and a hairpull hangman. He went to the top rope and executed his patented diving elbow drop. He made the pin, but Heenan reached into the ring, grabbed Savage by the foot and pulled him off. This got Savage to chase the Weasel around the ring until he turned a corner and ran into a blind clothesline from Rude. Rude smashed Savage’s head off the turnbuckle post, then went into the ring with him and executed the Rude Awakening. He made the pin. 1…2.. the lights went out. When they came back on, Sting had taken the place of the referee and was holding his hand in the air as if to pause the count. Heenan and Rude went berserk. Rude tried to attack Sting, but he met the fight head on and gave Rude a Scorpion Death Drop. FTR started running out to the ring to try to get revenge, but the lights went out. When they came back on, Sting was nowhere to be seen. Wheeler and Harwood started searching under the ring for him. Meanwhile, Savage climbed the turnbuckle and executed another diving elbow drop. He made the pin. 1…2…3!
Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar, John Cena, and The Undertaker in 22:37 to become the new number on contender to the WWE World Championship. It was hard for anyone to get a victory in this one. There were plenty of close finishes. Lesnar gave Cena a F-5, and The Undertaker broke up the pinfall. The Undertaker gave Lesnar a Tombstone, and Reigns broke up the pinfall. Reigns gave The Undertaker a spear after criss-crossing the ring for extra force, and Cena broke up the pinfall. Cena gave Reigns the Attitude Adjustment, and Lesnar broke up the pinfall. Later, they each tried to get the win via submission. Reigns tried to choke out The Undertaker with a guillotine choke. As The Undertaker looked like he was about to lose consciousness, Lesnar broke things up and gave Reigns a release German suplex. After he sent Reigns out of the ring with a clothesline, he picked up The Undertaker for a F-5, but the Deadman hit him with some elbows to the side of the head, got down to his feet, and took Lesnar down with Hell’s Gate. Lesnar looked has his hand raised twice, but Cena landed a diving leg drop on The Undertaker to prevent Lesnar’s hand from going down a third time. Cena gave The Undertaker a spin-out powerbomb and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He pinned him, but The Undertaker kicked out, so Cena turned him over and applied the STF. The Undertaker tried to get to the ropes, but Cena released, dragged him back to the center of the ring and reapplied the hold. That’s when Lesnar returned, pulling Cena off The Undertaker and locking him in a rear naked choke. Cena refused to give up and started to fade. The Undertaker gave them both a big standing leg drop to interfere with the submission. He got Lesnar to his feet and gave him a chokeslam. He indicated he would be going for another Tombstone, but as he was making the throat slitting gesture, Reigns hit him with a Superman punch. It staggered the Deadman. Reigns then clotheslined him out of the ring. Reigns saw Lesnar getting up. He ran by him to build up a head of steam, then by him again, and then rocked him with a spear. He made the pin. 1…2…3!
Bianca Belair defeated Rhea Ripley in 10:51 to successfully retain the WWE Women’s Championship. Ripley put up a good challenge, but when she tried to put Belair in the Prism Trap, the EST of WWE countered with a small package. Ripley kicked out, but then missed a running big boot, which Belair ducked in a matrix evasion. Popping back up to her feet, Belair nailed Ripley with a dropkick, then gave her a glam slam. Instead of going for the pin, she wanted to make sure she had her finished off, so she picked her up and gave her the Kiss of Death. 1…2…3!
Becky Lynch defeated Bianca Belair in 3:17 to become the new WWE Women’s Champion. As Belair had her hand raised by the referee, Lynch snuck into the ring from behind and nailed her in the back of the head with the Money in the Bank briefcase. She picked up Belair and gave her a DDT on the briefcase, then told the referee, she wanted to cash it in. The ref couldn’t approve because Belair was unconscious. When Belair started to come to, she was informed that Lynch was cashing in the briefcase and said, “Let’s go!” Belair showed her resilience, bouncing back quickly , but her second wind didn’t carry her to victory. When she went for the running handspring reverse elbow in the corner, Lynch moved out of the way and Belair hit the turnbuckles. She came out of the corner gingerly and Lynch took advantage, throwing her across the ring with a Bexploder suplex. When Belair tried to get up from that, Lynch gave her the Manhandle Slam and pinned her for the 1-2-3!
Prior to the main event, Vince McMahon came to the ring to make an important announcement. The Chairman of the Board reminds the WWE Universe that he had to make a very unpopular decision to punishing Sting for interfering in the EXTREME RULES main event and intimidating Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, a licensed WWE manager – a non-competitor employee of WWE – in turn causing him great emotional stress, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder, by scheduling Sting to compete in steel cage handicap match versus Triple H, Adam Cole, Rick Rude and FTR. For failing to appear in that match, in accordance with the terms in Sting’s contract, Mr. McMahon had to suspend Sting without pay for a period of 30 days. Now, tonight, Sting has come back before the end of his suspension and cost most of the Heenan Family their championships. That is entirely unacceptable, and so, Mr. McMahon must make another unpopular decision, which is to suspend Sting indefinitely. And let this be a warning to Sting. If he even dares to try to act out another one of his acts of perverted vigilante justice in tonight’s main event and do something that will cost his son-in-law the WWE World Championship and make his most hated employee of all-time, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin the new WWE World Champion, then Mr. McMahon will have no choice but to say, “Sting, you’re fired!”
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin defeated Triple H in 20:29 to become the new WWE World Champion. After EXTREME RULES, Triple H bragged about his success as WWE World Champion. He claimed no one could beat him and that there was no better champion in the business. This brought out “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, the WWE United States Champion, who argued that he was a better champion, and he could beat him. Triple H didn’t want a match against Austin, so he argued that because Austin held a championship and would need to defend it at NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS, he wouldn’t get the title shot. Austin said he would drop the U.S. title to get a shot at the World title, and that’s what he did. He threw it at the feet at “Ravishing” Rick Rude. Forfeiting the United States Championship to Rude meant that every member of the Heenan Family was now a champion, and Austin now held the right to challenge Triple H for the World Championship.
They did a lot of brawling in and out of the ring. Triple H sent Austin into the barricade and charged at him. Austin dumped him over the barricade with a back body drop. Austin climbed onto the barricade and dropped Triple H with a diving Lou Thesz press. After wailing away on him for a bit, Austin sent Triple H back over the barricade and into the ring. Austin bounced off the ropes and dropped an elbow on Triple H before going for a pinfall attempt. Triple H kicked out. Austin gave Triple H a vertical suplex and pinned him again, but he kicked out. Austin picked up Triple H and whipped him into the corner hard enough to send him over the top turnbuckle and out to the floor. Austin left the ring to go after him and Triple H gave him a drop toehold into the ring steps. Triple H took Austin back into the ring and gave him a jumping knee drop before pinning him. Austin kicked out. Triple H put Austin in a figure four leglock. Triple H reached out to get an assist from Heenan, who let go when the ref looked in his direction. Triple H held the bottom rope. The ref caught him and kicked his hand off the rope, then Austin turned the hold around. Triple H got to the ropes to force a break. Austin took the fight to him. He went for a whip, but Triple H reversed and Austin got him with a Lou Thesz press. Austin then gave him an inverted atomic drop and a kick to the abdomen. He went for the Stone Cold Stunner, but Triple H shoved Austin away and he bumped into the referee.
Triple H grabbed Austin and tried to hook his arms for the Pedigree, but Austin broke free and sent Triple H to the mat with back body drop. Triple H got up and charged at Austin, who gave him a stun gun. Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler hit the ring. Austin fended them off with right hands. Rick Rude came into the ring and went after Austin. He gave Rude a Stone Cold Stunner. Then, Wheeler and Harwood executed the Big Rig on Austin. Triple H made the pin as Heenan worked to revive the ref. He crawled over and counted the fall. 1…2… kick out! Triple H got angry at the referee and so did Heenan, who pulled him out of the ring to argue with him about his count. The ref told him to get his hands off him. Meanwhile, Triple H tried again to go for the Pedigree, but Austin blocked by using his power to push him back. They both fell over together, rolling under the ropes and bumping into the referee from behind.
Austin had to put up with all the Heenan Family. During the melee outside the ring, he gave Heenan a Stone Cold Stunner to incapacitate him. The Heenan Family started to get the better of Austin. They were putting the boots to him, four on one, when Triple H told Wheeler to get the sledgehammer from under the ring. When he went for it, he pulled it out with Sting on the other end. Sting nailed Wheeler with it, then dropped it and pulled his black bat out from under the ring. He took out Harwood and Rude with it as Triple H fled the scene. He picked up his title belt from the timekeeper and tried to make an exit through the crowd. Sting caught up with him. He ducked a belt shot and hit Triple H with alternating punches and chops before clotheslining him back to ringside where Austin hit him with a steel chair. Austin sent Triple H back into the ring. He kicked him in the mid-section and executed the Stone Cold Stunner. Finally, the referee was back on his feet. He entered the ring and counted the pinfall. 1…2…3!
The camera cut backstage to see Mr. McMahon throwing objects around backstage. When his stooges tried to calm him down, he assaulted them. When he saw the camera he turned to it and said, “I warned you, Sting. I warned you not to get involved. Now, Sting, you’re fired!”
The camera feed went back to the ring to see a new champion crowned. The Austin 3:16 era had returned to WWE and Austin celebrated with the WWE Universe, his new belt, and many, many beers.